2004: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Culture and the arts: architecture to theater

Among the highlights of the year in the realm of the arts were the following.

Architecture

The traveling exhibition, "Radoslav Zuk - Tradition and the Present - Ukrainian Churches in North America and Museum Projects in Ukraine," which has been held in Europe, North America and in the Middle East, was shown at the following venues in the United States in 2004: Ukrainian Institute of America, New York (February 6-26); Grazhda, Hunter, N.Y. (July 25- September 6); The Embassy of Ukraine, Washington, (September 16-October 15), and Drexel University, Philadelphia (November 19-December 10). In conjunction with the exhibition of his award-winning nine churches and museum projects, Prof. Zuk, who teaches architecture at McGill University, presented lectures on "Cultural Content and Context in Architecture," "The Music of Architecture: Harmony and Rhythm in Space" and "Stylistic Transformations in Ukrainian Architecture."

Art

A two-day conference titled "Rethinking Malevich," sponsored by the New York-based Malevich Society in celebration of the 125th anniversary of Kazimir Malevich's birth (1878-1935), was held February 6-7 in The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York. As part of the conference program that featured an international group of scholars and researchers, Malevich was considered in a Ukrainian context by two presenters: Prof. Myroslava M. Mudrak of Ohio State University in Columbus and Prof. Adrian Barr of Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand. Prof. Mudrak's presentation was titled "Malevich and His Ukrainian Contemporaries"; Prof. Barr's presentation was titled "From 'Vozbuzhdenie' to 'Oshchushchenie': Theoretical Shifts, 'Nova Generatsiia' and the Late Paintings." An article by Prof. Mudrak titled "The Art World: Kazimir Malevich and Ukraine," appeared in the April 11 issue of The Ukrainian Weekly. An illustrated presentation on Malevich's formative periods in Ukraine was delivered by Prof. Mudrak at the Shevchenko Scientific Society in New York at the invitation of the society and The Ukrainian Museum of New York on February 8. As founder of Suprematism in 1915, Malevich was a major influence in the development of abstract, non-representational, art in the early 20th century.

An exhibition of icons by Zoya Lisowska, inspired by traditional Ukrainian icons from the 12th century to the present day, opened on January 17 in Crans-Pres-Celigny, near Geneva, in Switzerland. The exhibition comprised 29 works, painted on a particular type of slate indigenous to the Valais region of the Alps, with the shapes of the stones determining the forms of the icons themselves.

The exhibition "Reprise," featuring the work of Irma Osadsa, Christina Senkiw and Vera Yurchuk, brought together three talented and original artists, with different styles, genres and interests, in an exhibition held at the Canadian Ukrainian Art Foundation Gallery in Toronto on March 21-April 4.

The Woskob Private Collection of Ukrainian Art Exhibition, featuring some 50 Ukrainian artists, among them, Alexander Archipenko, and such internationally recognized artists as Alexis Gritchenko and Jacques Hnizdovsky, opened April 17 at the newly built Woskob Family Gallery in State College, Pa., where it was on view through May 31. The exhibition offered a cross-section of work by artists from various generations and with various links to Ukrainian art. The collection, which was previously shown in New York and Washington, was presented by Alex and Helen Woskob of State College. An illustrated catalogue was published in conjunction with the exhibition.

Manifesta 5, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art, opened June 11 in Donostia-San Sebastian, Basque Country, Spain, with Marta Kuzma and Massimiliano Gioni as the curatorial team. The prominent cultural event, with predominance of work in film and video, was held with the participation of 56 invited artists from some 30 different countries. Participating artists from Ukraine in Manifesta 5 were Boris Mikhailov, Iliya Chichkan, Kyrill Protsenko and Sergey Bratkov.

New York artist Olga Maryschuk's oil pastels and prints titled "My Neighborhood" were on view at the Tompkins Square Gallery of the New York Public Library during the month of June. The exhibit, which focused on Tompkins Square Park, grew out of Ms. Maryschuk's involvement with East Village Parks Conservancy.

A colorful, eclectic exhibit of some 50 works by Aka Pereyma, as well as artwork by her daughter Christina Pereyma, was on view at the University of Dayton June 7 through August 6, in a show titled "Messengers from God." Aka Pereyma works in a wide variety of media - sculpture, painting, decorative ceramics and drawings - that draw on Ukrainian folk art as a symbolic form. Christina Pereyma's work references themes of gender, time, mythology and nature.

The monograph "Arkadia Olenska-Petryshyn: Oil Paintings, Etchings, Drawings," came out as a joint publication of the National Museum of Ukraine in Kyiv and The Ukrainian Museum in New York in a bilingual, Ukrainian-English, edition. The book, which offers 100 full-page reproductions, traces the artist's development from her formative years to maturity, providing examples of the artist's work throughout her 40 creative years. The publication was edited by the poet Bohdan Boychuk of the New York Group; with a foreword and introductory essay by Jaroslaw Leshko, professor of art history at Smith College; and book design by Ihor and Severyn Barabakh of New York.

The works of internationally recognized Ukrainian artist Oleksa Hryshchenko, aka Alexis Gritchenko, (1883-1977), which forms part of important collections and is represented in major museums of Europe and North America, were donated to museums in Ukraine in accordance with the artist's wish that his work return to his homeland upon Ukraine's independence. The transfer entailed the largest single collection of the artist's paintings and archival material that comprise the holdings of the New York-based Alexis Gritchenko Foundation, founded by the artist in 1963. A commemorative exhibition titled "Alexis Gritchenko (1883-1977). Travels in Europe: From Cubism to Expressionism," was held on the occasion of the transfer at the Ukrainian Institute of America, where the collection had been housed. The exhibition was on view October 22 through November 14; a 15-page catalogue, featuring 63 works, has been published in a bilingual, English-Ukrainian, edition in conjunction with the exhibition.

Dance

Roma Pryma-Bohachevsky was posthumously honored by the Ukrainian Institute of America with its first "Lifetime Achievement Award" at a banquet held in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York on September 12. A former prima ballerina and soloist in Europe and North America, Ms. Pryma-Bohachevsky devoted 40 years of her life to ballet and Ukrainian folk dance instruction, 25 of those as director of the Syzokryli Ukrainian Dancers of New York. Ms. Pryma-Bohachevska, ubiquitously known as "Pani Roma," was teacher and mentor to two generations of Ukrainian children and young adults who attended her schools, dance camps and workshops in the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut tri-state area. As choreographer, Ms. Pryma-Bohachevsky's work encompassed Ukraine's regional dances, as well as stylized interpretations that drew upon Ukrainian dance forms, classical ballet and modern dance, among them, such ballet productions as "Kvit Paporoti" (Fern Flower) and "Peer Gynt" and the dramatic work "Ikona." Apart from tours in the United States, her advanced corps, the Syzokryli dancers, went on a tour of Ukraine in 1992. On November 13, in a special 40th anniversary jubilee concert, some 150 dancers celebrated the lifework of their late teacher-choreographer in a concert at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York. As an enduring tribute, the Roma Pryma-Bohachevsky Foundation of Ukrainian Dance has been established, with Ania Bohachevsky Lonkevych, executive director and Boris Bohachevsky, Andrij Cybyk, Kristine A. Izak and Orlando Pagan, artistic advisors.

The renowned Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company, a premiere professional dance troupe known for the virtuosity and technical brilliance of its choreography, was on an extensive 70-city concert tour of the United States and several Canadian venues, garnering superlative acclaim of audiences and critics alike. Described by The New York Times dance critic Anna Kisselgoff "as a showcase for national pride" (November 9), the company of 60 dancers, who are professionally trained in ballet, as well as traditional folk dance, presented a diverse program drawing on Ukraine's rich heritage. Founded in 1937, the company has been under the direction of Myroslav Vantukh since 1980. The concert tour, which was officially sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts of Ukraine and produced in the United States by Columbia Artists Management LLC, was marred by a total lack of publicity of the tour's complete itinerary in the press, as well as by a mistake-riddled program full of errors as well as inaccuracies with regard to individual dance numbers and to Ukraine in general.

Film and documentaries

The documentary "Chernobyl Heart," produced and directed by independent American film director Maryann DeLeo, won an Academy Award for best short documentary film at the award presentations on February 29. In calling attention to the sharp rise in radiation-related illnesses over the past few years, especially among children, the film underscored the fact that international aid and attention to the problems extant in the aftermath of the Chornobyl disaster have been progressively diminishing. The film, which was shot predominantly in Belarus between 2001 and 2003, focuses on the plight of children in Belarus, Ukraine and parts of western Russia. A special screening of the award-winning documentary took place at the United Nations as part of a series of events that commemorated the 18th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear accident.

Oscar award-winning actor Jack Palance rejected the Russian award he was slated to receive during the "Russian Nights" festival held in Los Angeles on April 22 in celebration of Russian contributions to the world of art, in an event held under the partial sponsorship of the Russian Ministry of Culture. Mr. Palance's rejection was more than a personal statement that he is Ukrainian and not Russian and an objection to the mislabeling and slandering of Ukrainians. As referenced in the concurrent article "Opinion: Ukraine faces a "Cultural Holodomor," (The Ukrainian Weekly, September 5), penned by Peter Borisow with Mr. Palance - the two men are president and chairman, respectively, of the Hollywood Trident Foundation - the rejection was a refusal to lend oneself to endorsing a festival that provided an opportunity to what is, in effect, the centuries-old effort to make Ukraine seem part and parcel of Russia and to co-opt its history and culture. As noted in the article, Mr. Palance also refused to view Vladimir Khotinenko's 2003 film "Siemdesiat-Dva Metra" (72 Meters), which was screened at the festival, as it denigrates Ukrainians. Also screened at the festival was the film "Aerograd" (1935) by world-renowned Ukrainian filmmaker Oleksander Dovzhenko, who is customarily passed off as Russian. As part of the continuing onslaught on Ukrainian culture and identity, the article also reported on the dismal state of Ukrainian film and television in Ukraine. Citing statistics on Ukrainian language programming and underscoring that not a single Ukrainian-language film was made last year, the article points out that it is virtually impossible to get financing for Ukrainian films and equally impossible to get them shown in motion picture theaters in Ukraine, as all distribution continues to be controlled from Moscow and Ukrainians have no influence over distribution.

The Ukrainian Studies Program at Columbia University in New York launched the Ukrainian Film Club, with the screening of Oles Sanin's film "Mamai" (a 2003 Academy Awards submission) at the Harriman Institute on October 21. Ukrainian Film Club was founded on the initiative of Dr. Yuri Shevchuk, lecturer of Ukrainian language and culture at Columbia, with the aim to promote Ukrainian cinema and culture within the Columbia and greater New York City community, and to showcase the best of Ukraine's classical and new cinema. Among films screened since the club's inception were a series on the newest documentary films, including "Kinomania" (director Hanna Yarovenko); "Red Soil" (director Serhyi Bukovsky); "Old People" (directors Valentyn and Maxym Vasyanovych), as well as such classic films as "White Bird with a Black Mark" (director Yuri Illienko) and "Babylon XX" (director Ivan Mykolaychuk).

A review of Yuri Illienko's film "The Prayer for Hetman Mazepa" by Alexandra Hawryluk, writer for Radio Canada International in Montreal, appeared in the January 9 issue of The Weekly. The film's North American premiere was in 2002; it was screened for Ukrainian audiences in North America in 2004.

Literature

The inaugural issue of Ukrainian Literature: A Journal of Translations, was presented at the Shevchenko Scientific Society in New York on December 11. A corresponding Internet edition (www.shevchenko.org or www.UkrainianLiterature.org) was launched in August. The first-ever publication devoted exclusively to English translations of Ukrainian literature, is scheduled to appear biennially, as a publication of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (NTSh), with Maxim Tarnawsky, editor and editorial board members: Prof. Taras Koznarsky, Askold Melnyczuk, Prof. Michael N. Naydan and Prof. Marko Pavlyshyn.

Museum

The Ukrainian Museum in New York City received a 2004 Museums for America grant in the amount of $91,360 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal granting agency. As noted by museum director Maria Shust, the grant came at a most opportune time with the museum ready to undertake the task of implementing an expanded and enriched agenda upon relocating to its modern new three-story facility on East Sixth Street.

Music

"Liturgy No. 2" (The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom) by Roman Hurko, Toronto-based composer and opera stage director, was released on the Right Angel Records, a Canadian label specializing in sacred choral music. "Liturgy No. 2" is Mr. Hurko's third major composition of sacred choral music, following the critically acclaimed "Liturgy 2000" and "Requiem for the Victims of Chornobyl" (2001). "Liturgy No. 2" premiered on August 24, 2003, at St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral in Kyiv, in a performance by the world-renowned Vydubychi Church Chorus, under the direction of Volodymyr Viniar.

Ukrainian Canadian singer Alexis Kochan and her Winnipeg-based ensemble, Paris to Kyiv, appeared in performance with the Rosheen ensemble and the Shanon Irish Dancers at the 50th anniversary celebration of Quebec City's world-famous winter Carnaval at Le Capitole on February 12, in a concert featuring Irish, Ukrainian and French-Canadian music held before an appreciative audience of 1,200.

The New York-based and internationally acclaimed music ensemble Continuum, under the co-direction of Cheryl Seltzer and Joel Sachs, presented a concert of leading Ukrainian contemporary composers Valentin Bibik (1940-2003) and Leonid Hrabovsky (1935-) on March 6 at New York City's Merkin Concert Hall, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Institute of America as part of its "Music at the Institute" series. An informative article on the two composers and their music as well as on Continuum's history of commitment to Ukrainian contemporary music, appeared in the February 29 issue of The Weekly. CDs of Messrs. Bibik's and Hrabovsky's work have been produced by Continuum for the TNC recording label.

Concert pianist Juliana Osinchuk, a native New Yorker and now a resident of Anchorage, was featured soloist in the world premiere of Piano Concerto No. 1 Op. 72, a programmatic work by contemporary Alaskan composer Philip Munger, in a concert with the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, Randall Craig Fleischer, music director, held March 6 in the Atwood Concert Hall in Anchorage.

A memorial concert in honor of the internationally known mezzo-soprano Renata Babak was held on February 19 at the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington, featuring eight soloists, former students of Ms. Babak, performing operatic arias, duets and art songs.

A gala concert featuring pianists Alexander Slobodyanik and Laryssa Krupa, and opera soloists soprano Oksana Krovytska and baritone Oleh Chmyr was held as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations of The Morristown Community Theater on September 29. Mr. Slobodyanik and Ms. Krupa were featured in the opening night celebrations as co-founders of the Morris International Festival of the Arts, which reopened the theater in historic Morristown, N.J. in 1994.

The Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of Detroit, under the direction of conductor-composer Oleh Mahlay, returned to New York after an absence of six years, appearing in concert at The Cooper Union on April 5 before an appreciative and enthusiastic audience. A review of the concert by Bohdanna Wolanska titled "Concert Review: Of Yankees, the Met, and Bandura" appeared in the June 6 issue of The Weekly.

The works of Ukrainian composer and musicologist Bohdana Filts, laureate of the Viktor Kosenko (2003), Lev Revutsky (2003) and the Mykola Lysenko (1993) prizes, were presented in the United States for the first time in concerts at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York on November 7 and at the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington, on December 9. The composer is best known for her vocal works and large body of choral work, written mostly for children's and youth choirs.

The Kyiv Chamber Choir, Ukraine's premiere a capella choir which, since its founding in 1990, has earned international recognition as one of the outstanding chamber choirs in Europe, made its Canada debut in a series of concerts performing in 14 cities in five provinces across Canada, on November 3-28, including appearances in Weston Recital Hall in Toronto's Center for the Arts and the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal. Under the direction of Mykola Hobdych, the choir has gained international renown for performing many of the best choral works found in Ukranian music history and for its high level of professionalism.

Symphony No. 2, "Red Earth" by prominent Ukrainian American composer and conductor Virko Baley, was premiered by the New Juilliard Ensemble, under the direction of Joel Sachs, as part of a program of music by five contemporary composers at a concert held at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall on November 19. An interview with Mr. Baley, who lives and works in Nevada, in which he discusses his recent compositions with WNYC radio host John Schaefer, appeared in the November 7 issue of The Weekly. On November 21 four of Mr. Baley's compositions, including several premieres, were performed at the Ukrainian Institute of America. A review of the world premiere of Mr. Baley's Symphony No. 2, written by Oles Kuzyzsyn, appeared in the November 28 issue of The Weekly.

Bass Stefan Szkafarowsky sang the title role in the premiere production of "Agamemnon," an opera by Sergey Taneyev (1856-1915), in a concert performance at Carnegie Hall on June 16 with the Manhattan Philharmonic, under the direction of Peter Tiboris.

Ukrainian baritone Vassily Gerello, a star of the Kirov Opera since 1990, has issued his first solo CD album, titled "Favorite Ukrainian Songs," on the U.S. Delos International label, with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra under the direction of the Armenian American conductor Constantine Orbelian.

Soprano Nataliya Kovalova, 28, and baritone Vitaliy Bilyy, 29, both from Ukraine, were among the top winners at the 12th annual Operalia 2004: World Opera Competition, held in Los Angeles on August 23-28. Ms. Kovalova was winner of both the second prize and the "People's Choice" award, and Mr. Bilyy was a fourth-prize winner at the competition. Founded by Plácido Domingo in 1992, Operalia is one of the leading international contests for opera singers who are in the early stages of their careers.

The "Music at the Institute" concert series held under the auspices of the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York (Mykola Suk, music director), presented the following concerts: "Restructuring Chopin," with Valida Rassoulova-Suk, piano, Oksana Krovytska, soprano, and the Manhattan-based Cassatt String Quartet (January 24); Mozart Piano Quartet of Germany, (April 25); "Opening Concert" - Nadia Shpachenko, piano, Yuri Kharenko, violin, Ah Ling Neu, viola, and Wanda Glowacka, (October 16); "Tapestry" - Laui Monahan, mezzo-soprano, harp and director, Christi Catt, soprano, Daniela Tosic, alto, with Takaaki Masuko, percussion (December 4).

The Washington Group Cultural Fund (Svitlana Fedko) director, presented the following concerts, held under the patronage of the Embassy of Ukraine, at the Lyceum in Old Town Alexandria, Va., as part of its music series: The Forte String Quartet - Mikhail Kuchuk, violin, Alexander Abayev, violin, Roumi Petrova, viola and Kalin Ivanov, cello (October 17); Taras Kulish, bass baritone (November 14); Valentina Lisitsa, piano (March 14); and Oleksandr Abayev, violin, and Maryna Rohozhyna, piano (May 23).

The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art in Chicago (Oleh Kowerko, president) presented the following concerts as part of their fourteenth music concert season: Oksana Krovytska, soprano (February 15); "Natalia Khoma and Friends" (March 14); Roman Rudnytsky, piano (October 17); The Cerberus Trio - Mykola Suk, piano, Byron Tauchi, violin, and Andrew Smith, cello (December 5).

The Music at the Grazhda classical concert series, held under the auspices of the Music and Art Center of Greene County (Volodymyr Vynnytsky, music director and Ika Koznarska Casanova, executive director), presented 10 concerts as part of its 22nd summer season, held July 3 through September 4. Featured performers were: Solomiya Soroka, violin, and Arthur Greene, piano (July 3); Stefania Dovhan, soprano (July 19); Alexandre Brussilovsky, violin (July 17); Luba and Ireneus Zuk, piano duo (July 24); Vagram Saradjian, cello (August 7); Roman Rudnytsky, piano (August 14); Music at the Grazhda Chamber Music Society - Natalia Khoma, cello, Solomiya Ivakhiv, violin, Yuri Kharenko, violin, Randolph Kelly, viola, and Mr. Vynnytsky, piano (August 21 and August 28); and in a solo recital, Mr. Vynnytsky (September 4). Among special events forming part of the season was the opening of an art exhibition held in celebration of the centennial of the birth of Mykhailo Moroz (1904-1992), (July 4-July 23) and an exhibition of architectural drawings and photographs titled "Radoslav Zuk - Tradition and the Present - Ukrainian Churches in North America and Museum Projects in Ukraine," (July 25-September 6) with an accompanying lecture by Prof. Zuk, an internationally recognized architect and a professor of architecture at McGill University, on the topic "Music of Architecture: Harmony and Rhythm in Space."

Ukraine's pop singing sensation Ruslana, winner of the 2004 EuroVision Song Contest held in Istanbul May 15, won the competition with the hit song "Dyki Tantsi" (Wild Dances), which is based on traditional Hutsul folk rhythms. Following her EuroVision success, which was broadcast in 36 countries with 170 million European viewers, Ruslana was named best-selling recording artist from Ukraine at the 2004 World Music Awards held in Las Vegas on September 15. She was presented with the award's golden statuette by Volodymyr Klitschko, the world-renowned Ukrainian boxer, in a ceremony that was televised in 160 countries. The first performer in Ukraine to have officially received a platinum record for sales of more than 1 million discs by the International Recording Industry in 2003, her album "Dyki Tantsi" went double platinum in 2004. In Canada, Ruslana wowed rain-drenched crowds in Toronto as the featured performer at the Bloor Street Village Ukrainian Festival on August 28, in a non-stop, energy-filled, 90-minute "Dyki Tantsi" stage show. At a press conference in Kyiv on September 27, the 25-year-old native of Lviv underscored that through her music and her various successes, she hopes to shine a positive light on Ukraine as an effective musical ambassador. Ruslana took center stage on possibly the greatest stage ever - the "maidan," showing her support for presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of protesters on Independence Square in Kyiv in the early days of the Orange Revolution.

Photography

As part of a group exhibition titled "Don't Look Away," three young photographers of Ukrainian descent - Alexandr Glyadyelov from Kyiv, and two Ukrainian Americans, Adrienne Kovalsky and Joseph Sywenkyj - documented, in unflinching and profound images, the plight of children and adults in Ukraine ravaged by disease, poverty and pain as victims of Chornobyl, AIDS and other trauma. The exhibition, curated by Anya Antonovych, was held at Chicago's Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art on March 12-May 2.

The work of 17 photographers of Ukrainian descent from across Canada, who have made a significant contribution to the world of photography both nationally and internationally, was shown in the first photography exhibition of its kind at the Ukrainian Canadian Art Foundation Gallery in Toronto May 15-June 30. The exhibition was held in conjunction with Toronto's CONTACT Photography Festival, the largest annual photo-graphy event in North America. Curator for the exhibition was Darka Maleckyj Griffin. Featured artists in the exhibition were: Edward Burtynsky, Sandra Semchuk, Michael Semak, Ken Shumka, Orest Semchishen, Laura Letinsky, George Styranka, Terry Pidsadny, Vera Elyjiw Sytch, Paul Osadchuk, George Nitefor, Christine Laptuta, Christine Kudryk, Ivaan Kotulsky, Daniel Dutka, John Paskievich and David Firman.

Television/animation

Olexa Hewryk received the prestigious 2004 Daytime Emmy Award for Nickelodeon's preschool television show "Little Bill" at the awards ceremony held May 21 at the Art Deco music hall in New York City. Mr. Hewryk was one of three directors at Nickelodeon Animation Studio East singled out for his work on the show in the "Outstanding Children's Animated Program" category.

Theater

MN2 Productions of Cleveland premiered its latest dance theater piece, "Forest Song," at Cleveland Public Theater's Old Parish Hall on June 11-13. An English-language adaptation of Lesia Ukrainka's "Forest Song" (Lisova Pisnia), a classic of the Ukrainian theater, the play was staged by Michael D. Flohr in a production aimed at an American audience, with English translation of text by Nadia Tarnawsky. The production featured a soundtrack of Ukrainian folk songs and folk music as performed by Beata Begeniova, Alexander Fedoriouk, Andrei Pidkivka, Ms. Tarnawsky and Mr. Flohr. Choreography was by Natalie M. Kapeluck of the Mary Miller Modern Dance Company, who is also artistic director of the Slava Modern Dance Company and the Kyiv Ukrainian Dance Ensemble of Pittsburgh.

Derek Adam Gregor along with his collaborator, Sam Carner, were named winners in the Richard Rodgers Awards competition for musical theater by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Messrs. Gregor and Carner, graduates of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, collaborated in a work titled "Unlocked," an adaptation of Alexander Pope's mock-epic poem "The Rape of the Lock," set in 18th century England. Mr. Gregor composed the music, while Mr. Carner, a graduate of the Yale theater program, wrote the book and lyrics. Messrs. Carner and Gregor received their awards at the academy's ceremonial in New York City on May 19.

The play "The Marinated Aristocrat" by Irena Kowal had its premiere performance in Kyiv, where it played during spring and the fall-winter season. The play deals with the clash of Anglo-Saxon and Slavic cultures, as well as contemporary issues in Ukraine such as unemployment, working abroad, stress on family life and the role of women in a changing society. The play is grounded in the author's observations and experiences after living for the past 10 years in Kyiv, and previously, for a number of years, in England. Features in the lead roles are Oleksii Vertynskyi and Viktoria Avdeyenko; staging is by Stanislav Moiseev. A review of the play by Jaryna Turko appeared in the Otober 3 issue of The Weekly.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 16, 2005, No. 2, Vol. LXXIII

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